Witch

Witch
The witch queen Serafina Pekkala in flight
World(s)	Lyra's world
Affiliation	Dæmons Humans

The witch was a humanoid being with magical abilities. They inhabited multiple worlds.

Biology

Witches were humanoid beings but distinct from humans biologically and culturally. Like humans, witches had dæmons, which always settled in the form of birds. Witches aged much more slowly than humans, and were known to live for more than a thousand years. In Lyra's world, only female witches existed. In this world, witches bore the children of human men, who were witches if female and human if male. There were other worlds in which there were male witches.

Witches were able to feel cold, but it did not cause them harm. They were also able to feel tingling and silky sensations on their skin when exposed to starlight and moonlight respectively.

Abilities

Flight

Serafina Pekkala flies with her branch of cloud-pine.

Witches were capable of using branches of cloud-pine to fly.

Invisibility

While true invisibility was impossible, witches were able to enter a fiercely-held modest state of mind which allowed them to go unnoticed. With the correct degree of intensity, a witch would be able to pass through a crowded room or walk beside a single person unnoticed.

Weather control

Witches were able to control the weather to a degree. Serafina Pekkala and her clan were able to summon winds to speed Lee Scoresby's balloon on its way.

Healing

Witches were capable of performing healing magic. However, this type of spell proved ineffective against the wounds caused to Will Parry by Æsahættr.

Culture

Society

A map of the witch lands drawn by John Parry.

Witches did not have possessions, and their only means of exchange was mutual aid.

Witches divided themselves into communities known as clans. Each clan had its own territory with definite but irregular borders which varied from season to season based on the growth of plants and the migration of animals.

Clans formed alliances and enmities with each other. There was an ancient rivalry between the Tikshozero clan and the Micokojärvi clan.

Known clans

• Keitele clan
• Lake Enara clan
• Lake Ladoga clan
• Lake Lubana clan
• Lake Visha clan
• Lake Umolese clan
• Micokojärvi clan
• Nania clan
• Taymyr clan
• Tikshozero clan
• A clan on Nova Kievsk

Dæmons

Witches took part in a coming-of-age ritual, wherein they travelled to a barren land in the North where their dæmons could not go, much like the land of the dead. The completion of this ritual allowed them to separate from their dæmons over long distances.

Religion

Witches were known to worship at least one deity. Yambe-Akka was the witches' goddess of the dead. Witches did not believe in the notion of a spirit.

Notable witches

Witches and angels at the Battle on the Plain

• Serafina Pekkala, queen of the Lake Enara clan
• Ruta Skadi, queen of the Lake Lubana clan
• Juta Kamainen, former queen of the Lake Visha clan
• Sara Leiro, queen of the Keitele clan
• Reina Miti, queen of the Tikshozero clan
• Katya Sirkka, queen of the Mickojarvi clan
• Tanja Lentana, queen of the Lake Umolese clan
• Yelena Pazhets
• Ieva Kasku
• Lena Feldt
• Tortured witch

Appearances

• Northern Lights
• Northern Lights - The Graphic Novel
• The Golden Compass (film)
• The Golden Compass (video game)
• The Subtle Knife
• The Amber Spyglass
• His Dark Materials (TV series), Series 1, 2
• Lyra's Oxford
• La Belle Sauvage
• Peril of the Pole
• The Secret Commonwealth (Mentioned only)